An army marches on it stomach.

Napoleon Bonaparte said, and believed, that in 1812. Truth is he might have been thinking more about the importance of a good supply line.

But a visit to a military camp -- then or now -- would reveal that good eats and tasty treats are just as important to the troops. Get it wrong, and the troops are not happy.

The Airmen of the 379th Expeditionary Services Squadron’s food service flight know that. It’s why they strives to provide the best variety of food -- meats, seafood, vegetables, beverages and desserts -- to coalition forces at this desert base.

“We take pride in making sure the troops eat well in a comfortable facility and that they have plenty of entrees, desserts and beverages to choose from,” said Tech. Sgt. Shannon Midgette, the assistant manager of the squadron’s Manhattan Dining Facility.

The squadron manages the largest food service operation in the region -- the second largest in the Air Force, said Master Sgt. Troy Miller, who manages the Somerset Dining Facility and is the acting food service flight chief. The squadron needs several dining facilities to feed the thousands of troops here.

“Our services include around-the-clock provision of hot meals and flight meals (for aircrews and shift workers) that include sandwiches and prepackaged food products,” Sergeant Miller said.

In addition to breakfast, lunch, dinner and flight meals, the dining facilities host special events. These include birthday meals and distinguished visitor (DV) dining. Troops get a good variety, including steak, shrimp and lobster.

Attention to detail and long hours to prepare good food is not all the staffs provide. The services team also puts up holiday decorations, plays music and have televisions at the dining facilities.

“It’s all about service,” said Master Sgt. Hazel Jordon, a shift manager at the Independence Dining Facility. “The services staff is dedicated to providing quality service.”

Feeding so many troops has its challenges. The services staff must deal with portion control, the addition of variety items -- like a pasta or taco salad bar -- customer satisfaction and working with vendors to ensure food availability.

The holiday season presents its own challenges. There are special meals to prepare, more people to deal with and special guests to contend with. So making sure each person gets the right amount of food is essential.

“We have to make sure there is enough food for everybody,” said Master Sgt. John Underhill, the Manhattan Dining Facility manager. For example, providing overly generous “servings of dressing early in the day may cause us to run out of that item before” the end of the meal, he said.

The dining facility crews must also contend with the supply chain Napoleon talked about so long ago.

“Items that are readily available back home are not easily provided in a deployed situation,” Sergeant Midgette said. “People ask us, ‘Why can’t we just order and stock the items?’” The distribution process is not that simple.”

Still, the troops get good food -- though they sometimes cannot understand why the meatloaf isn’t like their mom makes back home.

“Everyone wants something different,” said Airman James Phillips, a quality assurance shift worker at the Somerset Dining Facility. “It’s a challenge to try to please everybody. We can’t flavor the food to our own personal tastes.”

People sometimes forget the dining facility staffs must feed thousands of people three or more times a day.

“When preparing food for the masses, we must cook in a certain way.” Airman Phillips said. Customer have the choice of seasoning their “food with the variety of spices and flavorings available” on each table.

Besides the dining facilities, the squadron runs a “Grab-n-Go” flight kitchen that provides flight meals for aircrew and troops who cannot break away from their jobs for a hot meal.

“Our menu includes a variety of sandwiches, beverages and prepackaged snack items,” flight kitchen manager Tech. Sgt. Joseph Newton said. “The services we provide are a joint effort between the military members and TCNs here.”

TCNs -- third-country nationals -- are the local workers on the services staff. These workers do most of the cooking while Airmen serve as facility management staff, said Airman 1st Class Sean Gray, a quality assurance team member at the Independence Dining Facility.

The local workers are an important part of the team. Not only do they prepare the food, they also serve meals, maintain the dining facilities, wash dishes and do all waste management operations.

“We ensure the TCNs follow the proper working procedures,” said Staff Sergeant Darci Furr, a quality assurance shift leader. Monitoring includes checking for correct cooking, food storage and refrigeration temperatures.

“We also monitor correct food temperatures on the serving line as well as assist in the preparation and serving of food,” she said.

Many of the services troops, and local workers, have the equivalent civilian ratings of chefs and master bakers, Sergeant Miller said. Some have professional training outside the military. And working with the local workers provides Airmen the opportunity to learn additional skills.

In the end, it’s all about keeping the troops happy and on the job.

“Food is morale and we take our jobs very seriously,” Sergeant Miller said. “We take food preparation and customer service to heart. We put our best into it.”